Good Flyers/Habs preview at SportsNet. Not Comcast SportsNet (RIP), but the Canadian site with all of the good hockey stories and news.

Eric Engles and Kyle Bukauskus surveyed a pair of anonymous NHL executives, and both picked the Flyers to advance:

“Flyers will be tough to beat,” said the first one. “Could be a Flyers/Vegas final. Price will need to be Price to give them a chance. Montreal doesn’t have Philly’s depth, especially on the blue line.”

The second executive gave us a detailed breakdown.

“The Flyers are one of the best teams in the neutral zone,” he said. “They kill rushes, and rushes are a Montreal strength offensively.

“The Flyers are also one of the top teams at denying entries, which denies Montreal’s speed. If Montreal can’t use speed, they are not heavy enough to play a heavy game.

“Flyers are heavy on the forecheck and that’s a way to beat Montreal. Flyers can score and create offence on multiple lines and from the back end. Goalie is good but young. Price has to steal every game for Montreal to win, but that’s not impossible.”

 

“Heavy on the forecheck” sounds great to me. Can’t wait to see the Flyers swarming out there, getting pucks in deep and getting bodies in front of the net. Smushing Habs up against the boards and then turning them upside down and watching their lunch money fall out of their pockets.

But we don’t want to be overconfident. We respect all opponents, and we respect the veteran Carey Price and his ability to steal games. It’s just hard to see him stealing four games from the Flyers. Maybe one or two, but not four.

Here’s the full story, which is a worthy read:

Canadiens’ sense of belief growing, but NHL execs say Flyers in six